Participating in a Living Nativity

Friday night and Saturday night several of our family ended up participating in a Living Nativity at the Elizabeth Bible Missionary Church.

Friday night was Crystal's 24th birthday. but she was willing to spend it with this outreach opportunity.

It was cold, so we all had to try to add costumes over  our coats. Thus, the girls came up with names for themselves such as Ample Angel, Chubby Cherub, and Skinny Seraph. 

Hannah got to be the angel on top of the stable!

And Jonathan was one of the wise men, wearing a crown over his warm winter hat!

We took along one of our goats, a few bunnies, and a few chickens to help add to the nativity.

Inside the church, the back pews were strewn with costume items! :)

After nearly two hours of standing in the cold and helping to sing along with the recording, waving at passersby and warming up with hot chocolate from a crockpot, the children were glad to take off their costumes.

The second night almost everyone was a different person in the nativity. Jonathan had come down sick, Crystal wasn't feeling well, and Sam had to be on call at the fire station, so it was the rest of us who went this time. Timmy is the middle wise man that you can hardly see. 

Carson Hallam and his fiance were the new Mary and Joseph.

 The second night, Carrie decided to take a puppy along as well.

He made lots of friends!

Ever see a puppy held by an angel?

An older couple that had come to listen last night, came the second night for a while all over again.

I let a little boy of the church, who was dressed as a little shepherd, give a handful of hay to the goat.

The nativity from a distance, with folk seated on wooden benches listening to the music and recorded Scripture reading. The pastor had recorded several Christmas Scriptures, interspersed with usually two verses of appropriate Christmas songs that had also been pre-recorded one Sunday evening by the church people. Those involved in the nativity would sing along, but the recording helped carry the music better than had we sung alone.

Angel, shepherd, and puppy.

Puppy on angel's lap. :)

Close-up.

The littlest angels warming up at the fire. 

There was a fire for those in the nativity, and another fire by the benches where listeners sat, besides a table with kerosene lamps and a crockpot of hot cocoa with a thermos of coffee, too, and treat bags to give each person who stopped by.

 

It was very well planned and played.

There would be a 15-minute segment of music interspersed with Scripture, with part of the cast acting out a few of the parts a little as they felt to do.

A wise man's crown fell off as he presented his gift, the angel on top of the stable lost her halo once, and other interesting things happened to keep us in stitches. 

It was fun!

"Mary" warming her cold feet at the fire during a break!

It was a privilege to be involved in this experience. 

I liked the rustic logs that were turned into the stable, and the log manger,

the cotton-balled sheep, and the wooden camels and donkey.

It was all very well done.

Hopefully this won't be the last time we are involved in such an activity!

Bradford Family Music

While back in PA, I enjoyed attending a Sunday evening service of music performed by my sister Joella's family.

Charity and Ethan playing a lovely duet.

Susanna's turn during the prelude.

Bells.

Family song:

String quartet.

Little Laura and Jonathan join in.

So sweet!

The four children took turns quoting Scripture while Susanna played the harp.

What I Loved About Pennsylvania

A few weeks ago, Jonathan purchased tickets with his free miles for Sam and Carrie to fly back to PA for a few days before flying back home with Crystal when her college classes were over for Christmas break. I stood by the wood stove, so homesick for Pennsylvania it wasn't funny, 

and I said I wished I could go, too!

So Jonathan got tickets for Hannah and me, too.
 What I love back there-the clip-clopping of horses and buggies going to church on Sunday morning!

Hannah wanted to go see her newest cousin, Eliana.

Here are some things I loved back there--the old red covered bridge where Jonathan and I used to walk, and where we had a few wedding pictures taken.

Saturday evening we attended Penn View's Christmas Musical...

titled, "A Baby Changes Everything."
Carrie got to hold baby Eliana for a while.

Sam's girlfriend, Jennifer Neidermyer, was in the choir.
She had memorized the music in one week's time after being invited to participate in the musical.

I enjoyed the angels very much.

I spent nights this time with my sister Joella's family.
I love their old farmhouse with snow white curtains at the windows...

chandelier decorated with berries and crocheted stars,

and wallpapered livingroom with a pretty Christmas tree.

We spent Sunday service and dinner with my brother Gabriel's family.
We got to meet missionaries Becky Stence and the Stephen and Rose Blignaut family of South Africa with eleven children.

Some of the Lenig family with a friend playing brass Christmas songs.

 After dinner, some of my nieces and I took a walk down an old railroad bed...

to the old red covered bridge.
Jennifer's family used to live almost directly across the road from it.

Sam and Jennifer thought they would try to hide and scare us girls but they were quite unsuccessful,
as Gabriel's boys notified us of the plot.
Instead, the young people climbed the beams alongside inside.
I guess that is the difference between a courting couple at age 27 and 28, like us,
and one at age 19 and 22.
We were too old to climb walls.

We just traveled back to Colorado and climbed mountains instead! :) :)
Monday evening Jennifer invited Carrie, Hannah, Sam and me along with a couple girl cousins and a friend for supper.
Jennifer, who works at a deli, shares a home with a friend who is a baker at Green Ridge Market and who said that she and her helpers made almost a thousand pies at Thanksgiving season.
They served a lovely supper of chicken and gravy, mashed potatoes, and cheesy green beans,
followed by brownies and ice cream.
Then we visited, played a game, and tried some music on the accordion.

Hannah was looking for birds and spied a cardinal one day at Elon's bird feeder.

I drank in all the Christmas scenes like this one. I so miss this type of old country farmhouse with all its shuttered windows with candles and wreaths.

If you look closely, you can see the long, long line of laundry stretching from the house almost to the end of the row of trees. I miss seeing those, too.

A real covered bridge.

At Joella's home each night, I liked this mantle

Joella's family practicing their music and Scripture quoting.

Reminded me of old days when we were growing up!

I felt especially privileged to be able to go up to Punxutawney on Tuesday with my sister-in-law Regina to make a quick visit to my other sister-in-law Anita, who had been spending days by her father's bedside.

Little did we know that within about twelve hours, he would make the passing into a better world.

"Sleep in heavenly peace," were the words that came to me after hearing the news of his passing,

while I was at Elon's home making dishes of food for the family,

and when I saw these two peaceful slumberers.

Here are a couple dim photos Don Blowers, Jr., took of us sisters and sisters-in-law.

L-R Regina, Anita, Anna, Becky Blowers, and Pam Blowers (Steve's wife).

It was such precious memory, as I held the hymnal between Elon and Anita, and sang with them, with Becky behind us singing from memory, Pam on the other side of the bed, with Don, Jr., and Anita's brother Steve joining us singing some of Bro. Blowers' favorite hymns.

Afraid of what the snowy roads were going to be like, Regina and I left sooner than we wished, but we also had plans to be at Fain's home that evening for a get-together with most of my clan.

Fain was working on building cute lamps, just like our Uncle Rod used to make years ago.

Here is one of his covered bridge lamps.

Visiting.

Loved this plaque above a doorway.

May it be in our heart, and not just written on a doorway.

"A Baby changes everything," as the musical said.

There's just something about a baby--its smallness, innocence, cuteness.

Everyone wants a chance to hold her.

Especially Hannah who doesn't get a chance much.

My handsome big little brother Gabriel.

After the afternoon spent with Anita and her dying father,

I was thankful to come back home to Joella's home where they had gone Christmas shopping.
Their home is a place of joy, industry, generosity, and positive cheer.

We had fun wrapping gifts together. 

Next day I had to pack up and spend the rest of the day and night at Elon's, from which my family had to head off about 3:50 Thursday morning back to the Philadelphia airport.

Reading to Gabriel's boys the last night in PA.